Acadiana
A fertile land of bayous and prairies, this region was the first home of the Acadian people, who settled here in the late 1700’s. Today this area proudly shares its rich Acadian heritage, its food, music, French-speaking culture and joie de vivre!
Red Iris
The red iris, one of Louisiana’s rarest native flowers, blooms each April in a swamp near the town of Abbeville—its only known natural habitat in the world. Unlike the more…
Crowley Museum
This Crowley museum may be the only one in Louisiana where you can find a city hall tucked inside. Located in the historic downtown of this rice-farming hub, Crowley’s City…
Louisiana Native Plants
Louisiana native plants are starting to make a comeback, thanks in part to a group of plant enthusiasts encouraging homeowners to “go native” in their yards. The Acadiana Native Plant…
Creole French
Creole French is more than just a language—it is a living history of Louisiana’s Creole communities. At Maison Freetown, a small cultural center in Lafayette, the language and traditions of…
Train Wreck Inn
The Train Wreck Inn in Grand Coteau might have one of the more unusual names for a bed and breakfast. But its collection of historic railroad cars and buildings makes…
Acadian Settlement
Researchers believe they are finally closing in on the location of the first Acadian settlement in the area of southwestern Louisiana known as Acadiana. After ten years of research and…
Savoy Music
You can feel the strong Cajun tradition the moment you step inside the Savoy Music Center near the southwest Louisiana city of Eunice. The blend of strong black coffee, the…
Cypress Photography
A kayak or canoe is an essential tool for doing photography of Louisiana’s beautiful moss-covered cypress trees. That’s because getting to many of these magnificent trees and getting the best…
Lake Fausse Pointe State Park
Lake Fausse Pointe State Park, deep in Louisiana’s Atchafalaya Basin Swamp, is a secluded place for people who want to disconnect from the distractions of modern life. And the wooded…
Cajun Soldiers
Historian Jason Theriot has been in a race against time to locate and interview Cajun soldiers who served in World War Two. He’s dug through museum archives, family letters, and…
Toy Tractors
A huge collection of toy tractors is tucked away in a museum behind Kelly Hundley’s home near Crowley, Louisiana. And when you drive by, it’s easy to tell that farming…
Roots of Fire
The new documentary ‘Roots of Fire’ explores a movement underway with young Cajun musicians who are evolving their traditional south Louisiana music. The music is a driving force in saving…
Acadian Portraits
A Louisiana artist has come up with a unique way to help people connect with their Acadian ancestors through portraits. These original oil paintings are allowing descendants to step back…
Cypremort Point
Nestled at the end of the road, due south from New Iberia along the shoreline of Vermilion Bay, lies Cypremort Point State Park. Known for its rich fishing grounds, this…
Cajun Costumes
Cajun costumes have their own unique style for the rural Courir de Mardi Gras (Mardi Gras run) celebrations of southern Louisiana. A sewing shop in Cajun Country specializes in the…
Bayou Teche Paddle Trail
The Bayou Teche National Paddle Trail provides a unique way to explore the heart of Louisiana’s scenic Cajun country. The 130-mile-long bayou snakes it’s way through the backyards and farms…
Louisiana Cypress
Somehow, Lake Fausse Pointe in south Louisiana avoided losing its giant cypress trees to the timber industry. The lake was also excluded from major flood projects. And that has saved…
Cypress Fall Color
Experiencing fall color in Louisiana’s cypress trees can be short-lived. But at Lake Martin near Breaux Bridge, LA, it’s a goal worth planning for. All of the colors of the…
Creole Wedding
There was a time when a bride would ride to her wedding in a horse and wagon, especially in the rural farmlands of Louisiana’s Creole country. And there were a…
Chicot State Park’s Canoe Trails
The large lake at Chicot State Park seems like the perfect place to paddle a canoe or kayak. You will experience the classic Louisiana landscape here, with a shoreline and…
Amede Ardoin
Amede Ardoin, a French-speaking Creole music pioneer, can be likened to the rock stars of our generation. His legacy is steeped in both musical brilliance and personal tragedy. Amede Ardoin,…
Unearthing the Louisiana Mastodon
It’s hard to imagine a time when giant elephant-like mastodon were roaming the prairies of southern Louisiana. But the bones of long-extinct mammals have been unearthed in coastal areas of…
Blue Monday in Lafayette
Once each month, musicians come together to play for a purpose at the Blue Monday Jam in Lafayette, Louisiana. These Blue Monday shows are not just about music, but they…
Bird Sounds at Sherburne
Hearing bird sounds at the Sherburne Wildlife Management Area in the Atchafalaya Swamp was a reminder that spring is not far away. I had a little extra time to kill…
Swamp Pop – Let’s Dance
Swamp Pop was the name given to the South Louisiana Rock N Roll music that filled the airwaves and the local dance halls in the mid-1950’s through the early 1960’s.…
Bourrè
A good cajun bet Cajuns have played bourrè, a popular south Louisiana card game, for generations. And if you end up with a bad hand of cards, it can be…
Lafayette Farmers Market
The Lafayette Farmers Market features locally grown foods along with South Louisiana arts and crafts. Best of all, you can shop, eat or dance to the lively sounds of Cajun…
Cajun Accordion Master
A handcrafted Cajun accordion is a must for anyone serious about playing the popular south Louisiana music. When Larry Miller decided to get his first accordion more than four decades…
Acadian Memorial
The Acadian Memorial in St. Martinville has become something of a pilgrimage for people who have a family connection to Louisiana’s first Acadian settlers. The bayou-side museum contains family names…
Traditional Music
Students at the University of Louisiana Lafayette are able to learn to play and sing Cajun and Creole songs and earn a degree in Traditional Music. It’s a one-of-a-kind program…
La Poussiere
La Poussiere Dancehall in Breaux Bridge is alive with the sounds of Cajun music and dancers every weekend in the town of Breaux Bridge. It’s one of very few remaining…
The Nature Conservancy and Lake Martin
Since the first time I visited Lake Martin and The Nature Conservancy’s Cypress Island Preserve, it has been one of my favorite Louisiana destinations. The 200-acre lake, located near the…
Chicot State Park
Surround yourself with the natural beauty of Lake Chicot and see native flowers and plants in the state arboretum at this central Louisiana State Park. Chicot features a long wooded…
Jungle Gardens
Avery Island and its Jungle Gardens seem a world away from the flat land of sugarcane fields and pastures that surround this south Louisiana tourist destination. It’s only a ten-minute…
Swamp Pop
south louisiana music What happens when the rock ‘n roll sound of Elvis Presley and the New Orleans rhythm and blues of Fats Domino collide with the Cajun and Zydeco…
Finding Louisiana Creole
A small museum in the Louisiana city of Opelousas introduces visitors to Creole. Rebecca Henry, who founded the Creole Heritage Folklife Center, explains that finding Creole is all about connecting…
Le Tournoi – Cajun Knights on Horseback
Le Tournoi is a unique competition that you will only find at one place in the country. Once a year, Cajun “Knights” on horseback race around a quarter-mile track in…
Going Cajun at Fred’s in Mamou, Louisiana
Mamou, Louisiana is one of the most Cajun places in the world. And any trip to this small, one-stop-light town needs to include a Saturday morning at Fred’s Lounge, where…
Pearl Harbor
a louisiana survivor’s story A Louisiana teenager looking for a full-time welding job in 1941 found himself in Hawaii, where he was an eyewitness to the attack on Pearl Harbor.…
Lake Fausse Pointe State Park
Visitors to Louisiana’s Lake Fausse Pointe State Park get to experience the Great Atchafalaya Basin Swamp, with plenty of water for paddling or fishing and miles of trails for nature…
Cajun Music in Gueydan
The small southwestern Louisiana town of Gueydan is celebrating its Cajun music roots with a monthly jam session in its local museum. Area residents, who have a connection to the…
Palmetto Island State Park
Palmetto Island State Park is a south Louisiana treasure. You can spend the night in a riverfront cabin surrounded by the swamp and wildlife. And during the day, rent a…
Growing Live Oak Trees
Every day is Arbor Day for Bob Thibodaux, who operates Bob’s Tree Preservation Service in the small Cajun town of Church Point, Louisiana. Thibodaux has made it a personal crusade…
Chicot State Park’s Arboretum
Chicot State Park is home to the Louisiana State Arboretum with miles of nature trails for viewing seasonal wildflowers. The arboretum’s hiking trails take you over forested ridges and down…
Louisiana Nature Photographer
Nature photographer C.C. Lockwood has spent a lifetime capturing the wild beauty of Louisiana’s bayous, swamps and wetlands. We experience daybreak in one of his favorite places, the Cypress Island…
Mardi Gras Mamou Style
Mardi Gras revelers on horseback parade through the flat Cajun prairie of Mamou, Louisiana, in a tradition that has its roots in Medieval France. The Mardi Gras riders, in their…
Cajun Music’s Accordion Master
For 30 years, Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys have been advancing the art of Cajun Music. But due to COVID, it’s been a year since the grammy-nominated band’s last…
Rookery – Helping Nature
This may be the perfect example of, if you build it, they will come. In this case, a water recycling project for a large-scale nursery near New Iberia, Louisiana, has…
Zydeco Breakfast
Enjoy the best in zydeco music and dancing at the world famous Zydeco Breakfast in Breaux Bridge. It’s a great way to start your weekend by immersing yourself in Louisiana’s…
Orphan Train Museum – Opelousas
New York City Orphans Arrive in Cajun Country by the Train Loads It was a bold plan to find homes for tens of thousands of orphans from the streets of…